Sunday School | David - 2 Samuel 15

Alright. We're gonna be in 2 Samuel chapter 15 as we continue the endless slog through the life of David. Is anybody getting tired of David a little bit? It feels like it's never gonna end, but it will end. Okay?

So, chapter 15. Let's do a quick review, you guys. Who is Absalom? Son of David. Very good, Linda. Okay. Now, Absalom has had, depending on how you slice the pie, three or four things that have really upset him lately. Let's go with three. What are the things that have really been on Absalom's unhappy list? Nick, give me one.

His sister getting raped by his half-brother. That's it. So, yes. Number one, his sister Tamar was raped by his half-brother Amnon, and this was a source of deep distress to him. Very good.

Alright. Number two, what else is going down with this guy? His dad wouldn't see him. So somewhere in between him being unhappy with Amnon and his dad not seeing him, what happened? He killed Amnon. So having killed his brother, he gets banished, and his dad won't have anything to do with him. And so he's really upset about that. So first his brother rapes his sister, then he kills him, and then his father banishes him. That's tough.

And then what's the third thing? He allows him to come back to Jerusalem, but he does not see him for two years. That's right. He allows him to end the banishment, but not really. Like, you can come back to Jerusalem, but you can't see me. And he's like, what? It wasn't about Jerusalem. It was about you. So even when he thinks his banishment has ended, his estrangement has ended—not really.

And then David hears this language of the Lord devises ways so that banished persons will not remain estranged from him. But that's not really Absalom's experience. So things have been pretty tough. And now we're gonna see—we could title this chapter "Absalom's Revenge" if you wanted to. There's a lot of pent-up rage. There's a lot of hurt. There's a lot of pain. It's not to say Absalom's a good guy. There's no white hats in this section of the Bible. Everything's just a mess. But with all that necessary background, what's going to happen in chapter 15?

As we go through chapter 15, there's going to be four significant characters. David and Absalom, of course, are really significant, but there's four relatively new names that you can always watch for them—they're all weird names. It's Ahithophel, and I'm probably going to butcher all of them, but whatever. Ahithophel, Ittai, Zadok, and Hushai. Forgive me if you know Hebrew, and I don't. But Ahithophel, Ittai, Zadok, and Hushai—they're all going to have a significant role in what's about to unfold.

Alright, you ready? Chapter 15:

In the course of time, Absalom provided himself with a chariot and horses and with fifty men to run ahead of him. He would get up early and stand by the side of the road leading to the city gate. And whenever anyone came with a complaint to be placed before the king for a decision, Absalom would call out to him, "What town are you from?" And he would answer, "Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel." Then Absalom would say to him, "Look, your claims are valid and proper, but there's no representative of the king to hear you. And Absalom would add, "If only I were appointed judge in the land, then everyone who has a complaint or case could come to me and I would see that he gets justice." — 2 Samuel 15

Lots going on here. What are some of your most obvious observations you'd make about this? What's happening here? Go, Bob.

He's planting seeds. He's a good politician. Right. I mean, you all get the political vibe big time, right? There's all kinds of—he's planting seeds, suggesting things in their minds, very much so. Ann, did you want to say something?

Oh, just that he's observing his dad. Yeah, he's preparing to usurp his dad. This is all part of a plan. Very good. Any other things obvious to you here, Terry?

It's probably a lie. What's probably a lie? Why is he saying there's no representation? Oh, yeah. Every politician—I mean, every Democrat loves to act like when the Republicans are in power, they do nothing good. Every Republican likes to act like when the Democrats are in power they do nothing good, right? And so that's just such standard fare, for sure. Right?

Okay. Now, there's a few more interesting clues here. Go ahead.

He's building rapport with the people. Gaining their trust and making himself available. So Mike is saying that he's building rapport with the people. We're gonna see even more of that, Michael. He's really gonna kick up the baby-kissing charm in the next paragraph. This is very much of this vibe. That's all present and true.

The narrator is telling us more things that we might miss if we haven't been remembering other passages of scripture.

So we've already seen that there's some tags on Absalom. What did we see in the previous chapter that might seem like innocuous details but that were really code language for Absalom's character? Do you remember?

He's handsome. Okay, so what does that draw our line to? There's nothing wrong with being handsome, right? That is absolutely within the Samuel narrative, within David's storyline. The good looking guy is Saul, and it's kind of shady, and there's a sense that this reminds us that Absalom is kind of being cast in villainous terms.

Kelly made an observation here. This whole thing about him—you know, he's got chariot and horses and 50 men running ahead of him—which on the one hand, you could read that and just think, okay, I get it, you're driving a Rolls Royce. It has the vibe of you're wealthy, you're successful, you have attendants. It's this kind of Kardashian kind of vibe to it. That's all there. But there's more to it than that.

He is Fabio. Right? It totally is. But listen, I want to read you something. That phrase, that little picture, is not meant to just suggest in general vanity or in general a love of power and fame. It's very precise. I will convince you of this effortlessly in about ten seconds.

So go back in 1 Samuel 8 to the time when the people were clamoring for a king. "We want a king! All these other nations have a king, and all we have is a God, and that's lame." And so we want a king like the other nations have. And God's like, "Do you, though? I mean, really? Is that really how you want this to play out?" And then he tells them what it's going to be like to have a king.

This is the warning language. Listen to this:

Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king, and he said, "This is what the king who will reign over you will do. He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariot. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his officials. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. And when that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the Lord will not answer you in that day." — 1 Samuel 8:10-18

You get it? When he says he's running with horses and chariots and he's saying remember 1 Samuel 8? Be wary of this guy. Right? He's good looking, but the Lord doesn't look at the outward appearance. He's manipulative. He runs with horses and chariots. This is precisely verbatim what I warned you of, and the people are like, "He's amazing." Right? This is the warning that's going on.

If you're reading the Samuel narrative closely, when you get to this line, you don't merely think of his fame, but you realize, "Oh, oh, oh, this is what you said." Right?

Now, most normal people would not catch that the first time through. This is details. This is blah blah blah blah blah. But this is why we just read the Scriptures once through and then shelf it. You read it, and then you read it again. And probably literally, for me, it'd be like the tenth time through that I'm reading this, and I'm like, "Oh, wait a minute. Horses and chariots." And it might even be I don't even notice that Absalom, but later on, if I read 1 Samuel 8:10 again in three years, then I might remember, "Wait a minute, that reminds me of the Absalom thing." And stuff just falls into place. It's like a fifty-year book. Over the course of your life, this thing is endlessly going to give you new secrets, if you read it closely. It rewards diligent study. This meant something—that Absalom is bad news.

So Absalom's bad news. He's going to be like these kings, and the narrator knows that he wants to do it. Now, what is Absalom's entree? He clearly wants to be king. I think that's pretty transparent. But what aspect of kingship is he using as his on ramp?

Justice. That's right. His claim is, "If you have a complaint, come to me and I will hear your complaint."

Now, in an American jurisprudence system, that's not like the job of the president, is to hear the cases. But did you know that is absolutely the job of the king? Like, can you guys think? Let's try to build a case that if Absalom wants to establish himself, if he wants to begin to smell like a king to the people, this is a smart play. Given that he's evil, his wickedness notwithstanding, it's clever, it's strategic, it's a shrewd play.

Where else can you think of the kings of Israel functioning in that role? The leaders of Israel doing that? Yeah, John? The famous account of Solomon when the two ladies—excellent. Yes. You guys remember that story? It's a famous account. One of the most famous stories in Solomon's narrative is that there are two women, and they both had a baby. One of them died, but now there's one baby left, and they're both claiming that this was my baby. Do you remember that? This one says, "This is my baby." The other one says, "This is my baby." Solomon doesn't have a DNA test. There's no way he can prove it. So what's his solution? Cut the baby in half. And why is that a good solution? The mom who's just bitter is like, "Deal." The one who lost her baby, what does she care? But the mom who was real, she said, "No, no, no, give her to him. Or give him to her. Have a good one. Give the baby away." She'd rather the baby live. He's like, "You're the real mom." Boom. Solomon's wisdom on that notwithstanding, what you see there is the king being asked to settle a dispute. That's a totally normal thing. Where else do you see that? Kings called Moses. Big time. Okay. What's the most famous version of that with Moses? Yes. Bill is saying, so we recall Moses as the ruler of Israel. He would see day by day, all day long, the people would come to him with their disputes. So his father-in-law gets involved and says, "Dude, you're killing yourself. This is the foolish way to do it." And what was his solution? Do you remember? Delegate it out. You have lower courts and middle courts and superior courts. You're the Supreme Court. You deal with the hard ones. But come on, lots of people could solve these things.

Paul addresses that in the New Testament. He's like, "Listen, any one of you, any normal average person in the church should be able to solve these disputes. You're gonna judge the angels. Step it up. You can do this. You don't reserve all judgment to this one guy. Any idiot should be able to figure out what to do about this." So it's a king thing. You see it with Moses. You see it with Solomon. Any others? He strikes you, Gina? The prophet that came up to David to accuse him with Bathsheba. He was telling a story, but he was also pretending like he was looking for judgment for a person. Yes, that's good. Okay, when they come, even in David's rebuke, he's almost in that anti-role here, that they're using it to entrap David into seeing his own complicity. They're acting like, "David, there's a dispute, and this one burned me out and you need to give me justice." We just saw that a few chapters ago. Excellent. Very good.

One more here. Kelly Sue? Same with what Gina just said—that even last week, the wise woman from Even Toccoa, she was telling a story. Yes. The woman from Toccoa who made up a story and were a little bit shady about—was she allowed to lie? Is she telling a story? Is she lying? Whatever was up with that. Nevertheless, the assumption is that the king gets to be the judge. We saw Deborah do it. This is why, by the way, the rulers of Israel during that entire period of time, what were they called? Judges. Judges. All I have to say is this is not novel. Absalom is just stepping into this tradition that the rulers of Israel decide disputes. You think of the executive branch and the judicial branch as separate things, not so much here. He's functioning more like a Supreme Court justice. You're like, "Which job do you really want?" Well, in Israel, they were kind of the same job. Okay? Was there another hand? Somebody? Bob, did you?

Well, I was gonna say to the judges before you did it. It was implicit in many ways that there were judges, but there's throughout the whole book of Judges, and there was no king in Israel. So you have to have the judges. That's right. That's right. And that, yeah, that is the refrain.

In those days, Israel had no king. Everyone did as he saw fit. — Judges

It goes on and on and on. Okay. So Absalom, he's a great baby kisser. He's got a strategic role that he's stepping into. And then here's where I think he's at his smarmy best, alright? Look at verses five to seven.

Also, whenever anyone approached him to bow down before him, Absalom would reach out his hand, take hold of him, and kiss him. Absalom behaved in this way toward all the Israelites who came to the king asking for justice, and so he stole the hearts of the men of Israel. — 2 Samuel 15:5-7

Right?

He's very humble and lowly, and he's a baby kisser. But it's all subterfuge. So what's the plan? What's he gonna do? He's gonna go somewhere. We'll watch it play out in verses 7 to 9.

He has four years of this. That's a lot of baby kissing. At the end of four years, Absalom said to the king, "Let me go to Hebron and fulfill a vow I made to the Lord. While your servant was living at Gesher in Aram, I made this vow. If the Lord takes me back to Jerusalem, I will worship the Lord in Hebron." And the king said to him, "Go in peace." So he went to Hebron.

And the king said to him, "Go in peace." So he went to Hebron. — 2 Samuel 15:7-9

What's Hebron? Do we have any significance of that?

It's a city of refuge. But what's the most significant thing that has happened in Hebron? David became king there. That's it. David became king in Hebron. Hebron is the place that David was first crowned king over Judah, and that's where this whole thing is going to play out. There's probably strategic value. Hebron is defensible. It's not in Jerusalem, it's near Jerusalem. And this is where he's going to be, but he's getting ready to make a play to become king in the exact same place where his father became king.

He has a pretense. He should be allowed to go to Hebron because he made a sacrifice. He was also from Hebron, so he had lots of good relationships there. His dad became king there—there's symbolic meaning there. But he has to go because he's made an oath to the Lord. There's something particularly evil about using God's name.

If your kid comes to you and says, "Mom, Dad, can I stay out all night because there's an all-night church service where we're worshiping Jesus?" you're gonna say, "All right." So Absalom is absolutely drafting off David's love of the Lord to go do this thing, but there's a little hint that it's false.

What's the clue? What should include David in that he might not be entirely forthcoming here? The four years. He says, "I promised the Lord that if he returned me to Jerusalem back in 2018 that I would go do this thing." David could have been like, "Really? You made that promise four years ago. Why didn't you do it sooner?" But we've seen David in a state of passivity for quite some time now, and he's like, "Yeah, sure, go." So off he goes to Hebron.

But he doesn't go alone. He brings 200 people with him. He's basically 20 miles outside of Jerusalem, establishing his base of operations. He brings with him 200 men from Jerusalem. What's the practical and strategic effect of that?

200 people is a lot of dudes. This whole thing is about to be a coup. He's strengthening his position and weakening David's. He's getting more swords on his side. Now that those guys are in Hebron with him, if they're his enemies, he's keeping them close. He can keep an eye on them, and they're not gonna come march against him. We don't know exactly what's going on, but Absalom has handpicked them. He has been biding his time. He's been building his case. He's getting ready to take everything from his father. All that David has been afraid of, all that the Lord had warned David of, is all about to come.

Then Absalom sent secret messengers throughout the tribes of Israel to say, "As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpets, then say, 'Absalom is king in Hebron.'" — 2 Samuel 15:10

The 200 men from Jerusalem had accompanied Absalom. They'd been invited as guests and went quite innocently. They knew nothing about it.

While Absalom was offering sacrifices, he also sent for Ahithophel, the Gilanite, David's counselor, from Gilo, his hometown. And so the conspiracy gained strength, and Absalom's following kept on increasing. — 2 Samuel 15:12

This is the first of the four guys we want to track. Ahithophel. Do you guys remember anything about him?

He's Bathsheba's grandfather. This might not go well.

This is Bathsheba's grandfather. He is the husband to this woman who's been shamed. He is the grandfather of the woman who's been shamed. He is the father-in-law, what do you call it, father-in-law once removed here, to the one who was murdered. And all of that just might have had something to do, don't you think, with Ahithophel's loyalties being able to be pried away? He's been loyal to David for some time, but now he has a plausible alternative, and he takes it.

Kelly, but he was David's advisors. Yes, not just like that's really trustworthy. Yeah, it is a massive betrayal for sure. But you just have to wonder, when this goes down, I'm sure David could some betrayals really hurt. You're like, How could you? And I just think that David's like, How could... Okay, fine. David knows that he blew that.

So Ahithophel gets peeled off. He pulls these 200, he's going to have them with him. Ahithophel is now going to be in it, and that is a very, very significant ally. What would be, from Absalom's perspective, why is it beneficial to pick off Ahithophel? He knows David's inner workings, understands his dad better than he does, bro? Absolutely. He's going to know—he's going to be able to think like David thinks, know who the players are. It's a massive strategic pull for sure. Anything else you'd add? That's what's going on there. Yeah, Chris?

He just might have access to his father. Yeah, sure. So whether it's back channels, messengers, he might know who else might be peelable. It's a major, major grab. So he gets him, and his allegiance, his alliance changes.

David Flees Jerusalem

Okay, so then David gets this cheery update. Look at verse 13.

A messenger came and told David, "The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom." — 2 Samuel 15:13

That's bad news. So David is going to do something we never see David do. What's David's response going to be? He flees, he folds, he's gone. Now, we've seen him as an individual before he was in power fleeing from Saul back in those days. But since he's been king, he wins every war. Right? But he is now okay. This guy, my son, who I've banished and went through all that, he is now in the place that I became king. They are screaming his name throughout the nation. 200 of my inner people have gone. My closest counselor has left me. And I also murdered his family member. And the hearts of the men of Israel are with him. He craters. He folds. He's gone. He sees that it's over.

So in verse 14:

Then David said to all his officials who were with him in Jerusalem, "Come, we must flee or none of us will escape from Absalom. We must leave immediately or he will move quickly to overtake us and bring ruin upon us and put the city to the sword." — 2 Samuel 15:14

This is the least Davidic moment we've been telling. We're watching. Everything is great. It gets better and better and better. And from this point on, from the Bathsheba incident on, it's just going to get worse and worse. This is the most cowardly you're going to find David anywhere in the narrative. This is the least confident, the least militarily wise. This is his low point. And who is his enemy? Who has his sword against his neck? His own son.

You see shame, you see humiliation, you see fear, you see weakness. This whole thing is just completely unraveled for David. It's a rough, rough moment.

And so he flees from Jerusalem. Do you think he was right? Do you think he had to flee? Was his flight an exaggerated fear because he's off his game? Or was that as crummy as it was, the best play?

I think it was the right play. You think it was the right play, Marty? I think he understood strategy and he saw the odds stacked against him. I think it was the right play. Who's on team Marty? Do you guys think it was the right, or do you think... what do you think, Steve, what were you saying? Do you think it's the right play?

Alright, Lily?

Well, it's hard to know how many people are with Absalom versus David because it says that the conspiracy was strong and universal. He did seem to incite and outstrip Absalom's followers, but obviously it's ambiguous. So David is used to running around in the woods, in the desert with a huge band of these rough brigands, you know? But here, he's created it, and maybe for good reason.

Tommy?

I don't see him calling out to God in any part of this. He's just making the decision to run on his own, as opposed to turning toward God or invoking God, that God will protect us and God will... Yeah, even as we flee.

So Tommy, here's what's interesting. Tommy just said, I don't see him turning out to the Lord. We always see David—always in these terrible straits, and he inquires to the Lord, then he makes his decision. He does a really good job of braiding together strategic human wisdom with a humble subordination to the Lord, and we haven't seen that yet.

The good news is he's gonna catch his breath in just a minute. We're gonna see that. But up until this point, we're not seeing it yet. You're totally right, Gary.

If David had stood his ground in Jerusalem and Jerusalem was under siege, then a lot of innocent citizens would probably die. So he may have been thinking, I'll be better off out in the country, fighting in the fields or wherever.

Did you hear that? Gary's saying it may be that David's not merely concerned with his own well-being, but that of the people of Jerusalem—that they're gonna get overrun. And I think that's right because he uses a lot of "we" pronouns here.

We must leave immediately, or he will move quickly to overtake us and bring ruin upon us and put the city to the sword.

So it might be that he's willing to be shamefaced and appear cowardly and to flee for the good of others that he doesn't think he can protect. So though it's a lowly step and it's a shameful step, it may be motivated by a desire to protect those other people.

Michael, could it also be the weaving of a couple chapters prior—and then skipping ahead—but the fact of the love that David... Yes. Okay. So what we're going to see in the subsequent chapters: David has an enemy that's trying to take his throne, and he will not raise a hand against him. It's going to drive his military commanders insane. They're just going to absolutely go bonkers because they won't let him fight. And when his men do fight to save his throne, David hates it. So his military commanders are going to be like, "Dude, what do you want from us?"

David is in a pinch. He is my son, therefore I cannot harm him. He is trying to usurp my throne, therefore I must defend myself. And he is in a terrible pinch. And I do think you're probably seeing the beginning of that. In the past, when David is given a fight or flight response as king, he always chooses fight. This time he chooses flight, and his reluctance to bring a hand against his son is a huge part of that.

Suzanne?

I'd say from a military standpoint, it says he left ten concubines to take care of the palace, meaning he took everybody else—from the bakers to, you know, all the servants. These are not the rough and ready men that he had in the wilderness before. This seems like a strategically bad choice.

That's right. Jerusalem does have a wall. There is some defense. Yes. Absalom probably knows what all those are. But at the same time, he's taking a whole bunch of people with him that are going be very vulnerable. It is interesting. You remember that whole water shaft thing we talked about? Jerusalem is an incredibly defendable city, and yet he's taken them all outside the gate. So it is interesting.

David is in a tricky place. There's a lot happening here. It's hard to exactly evaluate. I think his motives are relatively clear, but the wisdom of his decisions—it's a little bit hard to come to a final conclusion on that.

Terry?

But isn't it—remember when we started this? When they came in and told him the story, at the beginning of this, and we went through the story—that was referring to Cain and Abel. And it was so that, you know, even though Cain killed Abel, God was merciful. Not to be messed with. That's right. So it's the same thing here, isn't it?

Right. I think what you're saying is we had seen earlier that David was rightly attempting to be as merciful as God is. Right? God had the authority to end Cain's life when he murdered his brother, but he didn't. He was merciful. He didn't kill Adam. He didn't kill Cain. And David is walking in that pattern of: I just have authority to end your life, but I'm mercifully not going to do that. So there's something about that that is commendable.

The problem is it seems like it's really wrapped up in David's emotional unhealth that we're gonna see just on greater and greater display as we go here. I think to your point, Terry, it's hard to sit in judgment on what's the right thing to do. Sometimes you get yourself in a situation where there is no right thing to do, and that's kind of where David is.

Katherine?

I just wonder if doing this will give the people time to see what's going on—a little bit more time and maybe sympathize with their king that they love. And so maybe they'll see the public opinion turning around maybe. It seems like it was only the armies that Absalom contacted.

He just said, come on. But what about the people?

So Catherine asking: well, who really is on Absalom's side? We know what the army is. We know some things, but we don't have a total picture. And that's right.

The statement that all of Israel's heart has turned to Absalom, that may or may not be true. And certainly, as he leaves, David is going to have his loyalists. We're going to see some of them kind of get called out by names. So let's look at them now.

Look at verse 19. So they're off and they go. The household leaves. And in verse 19, the king says to Ittai the Gittite:

"Why should you come along with us? Go back and stay with King Absalom. You're a foreigner in exile from your homeland. You only came yesterday. Today should I make you wander about with us?" — 2 Samuel 15:19

David has one who wants to come with him, and he says, No, don't stay. You should leave. Why would he do that? Why would he get rid of people? He needs as many followers as he can. Why does he get rid of this guy?

From David's perspective, everything is uncertain. He doesn't trust anybody. This guy, he's new, he's a foreigner, maybe he's loyal. David knows from his own personal experience that it is possible to march under the banner of a king with disloyalty. He did it himself. Remember this whole thing with when he's hanging out with the Philistines, he's marching for them, but he's really planning on turning it around. There's lots of examples of this. So this guy comes and he's like, don't—I mean, maybe, but I don't know. Why don't you stay here? And he's not going to say, I think you're lying to me. He's like, Hey, you know, take the afternoon off. So he's trying to be gracious. He's trying to be diplomatic. But he's not sure. He's afraid, and he has reason to be. There's a conspiracy afoot.

However, this guy Ittai says in verse 21:

"As surely as the Lord lives, wherever my Lord the King may be, life or death, there will your servant be." — 2 Samuel 15:21

Which feels to me very—does that remind you of anything? Ruth. Doesn't that feel very Ruth-y? "Your God will be my God. Your people will be my people. Where you go, I will go." And I think David—I don't know if David hears that echo, but for whatever reason it works. Right? And he allows him to stay. And so David says, Go ahead, march on.

But I think what we're meant to get there is, David's skittish. David's afraid. David doesn't know who to trust, but the Lord really is with him. For all of the curse and for all of the judgment, the Lord is with him. And we're going to see a few more things fall David's way that he can't control, and so not all is despair.

The Gittite is a Philistine. Which is exactly who David was being shady with. So interesting. So he's reasoned to be skittish, but in fact, I think that is—like, we see all these homages, all these allusions here. I think you're supposed to think of Ruth when we see that. And that gives us some hope that just like we get reminded of Saul or reminded of these bad kings, we get reminded of Ruth, we're like, oh, okay, that's good. That's in fact how that plays out.

The Ark of the Covenant

Look at verse 24:

"Zadok was there too, and all the Levites who were with him were carrying the Ark of the Covenant of God. They set down the Ark of God, and Abiathar offered sacrifices until all the people had finished leaving the city." — 2 Samuel 15:24

What are they doing? What are the Levites with Zadok? What are they doing? They're carrying the presence of God. They're carrying the ark. Okay, should they be doing that? Levites are the ones that are allowed to carry it. Right? They're not touching it. We're not doing the whole Uzziah thing. So it's the right people and the right method, but is it the right activity? Well, that's the question. That's exactly the question.

Where is the ark supposed to be? It's supposed to be in the temple, which at the time is the tabernacle. God has said where he wants that ark to be. It's Jerusalem. It's not with the king. It's in Jerusalem. They're behaving because the ark is supposed to stay. This is exactly right.

What she said is that they're behaving as if the ark follows the king around. But that's not it. The king follows the ark because the ark is the presence of the true king, and the true king wants his box in Jerusalem. So Zadok is carrying it like it's an artifact, like it's a talisman. And do you remember back in the day when it was traveling around and goes to this city and this city flourishes and goes here and all that mess? So he's like, Hey, let's bring the good luck charm.

And this is where David has kind of been blowing it. This is going to be where David is like, Oh, right. Flex a little bit, David. Get it right. So watch this.

Then the king said to Zadok, 'Take the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the Lord's eyes, He will bring me back and let me see it in His dwelling place again. But if he says that I'm not pleased with you, then I'm ready. Let him do to me whatever seems good to him.' — 2 Samuel 15:25

This is a big deal. This is David who gets like, you blew that, you blew that, you blew that, you blew that. But there's this moment where really, truly, he has a heart that seeks the Lord, and he's like, Don't bring me it like it's a good luck charm. Put it where God set it to go. And God is clear. The Ark lives in Jerusalem, so put it back. And so you're like, All right. One for David. It's good. It's a big deal.

So then he also says, you might be about to say that. Well, I'll say it and then you can jump in. When David's at his best, he's two things at once. He is trusting the Lord, he's seeking divine wisdom, not just human thought, and he is strategic and shrewd—makes great decisions. Right? We haven't seen that for a long time, but that's what he's about to do. He's like, number one, put the ark where it goes. And then number two, look at verse 27:

The king also says to Zadok the priest, 'Aren't you a seer? Go back to the city in peace with your son, and this other kid. You and you guys, you take your two sons with you, and I will wait at the ford in the desert until word comes from you to inform me.' So Zadok and Abiathar took the ark of God back to Jerusalem and stayed there. — 2 Samuel 15:27-29

There's a couple of levels to this mission. What does it mean that he's a seer? He's a prophet. He has some supernatural ability. The Lord speaks to him in a peculiar way. There may be a message from the Lord. He wants that. That's good news, right? What else does he want him to do? Go back to the city. And what's going to happen in the city? We don't know yet. Do you know that the king Absalom is not going to stay in Hebron? He's coming to the city. And so David is strategically, he's wisely and graciously and humbly obeying the Lord. The box goes back to the city. But he also wants to have some insiders in the city because when Absalom comes in, it would be really handy to have some spies. And that's what he's doing. So he's beginning to arrange spies. And now we're like, alright, we've the seeking the Lord, you're being strategic. I love it when you do this. And there's a glimmer, there's a glimpse. There's a little bit of what we used to love about David coming through. Cool?

The Mount of Olives

So David continues up the Mount Of Olives, weeping as he went. His head was covered. He was barefoot. Mount Of Olives, does that mean anything to you? This is a significant place. The Olivet Discourse takes place. This is just outside—less than a mile from the city. There's a lot of Jesus stuff that's going to happen here, right, on the Mount Of Olives. For those of you that have been to Israel, is Gethsemane there? It's all right at the foot of the Mount Of Olives. So this is Holy Land. This is a significant place.

And David had been told, Ahithophel is coming with conspirators. So he prayed, "Lord, turn his counsel into foolishness." And this is when we get our fourth and final character.

When David arrived at the summit of the Mount Of Olives, people used to worship God, Hushai the Archite was there to meet him. His robe was torn with dust on his head. David said to him, "If you go with me, you'll be a burden to me. But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, 'I will be your servant, O king. I was your father's servant in the past, but now I'll be your servant,' then you can help me by frustrating Ahithophel's advice." — 2 Samuel 15:32-35

He's not exactly a spy. What do we call this character in these kind of conspiratorial dramas? He's a double agent. Yeah, he's like a mole. You know the idea of a mole? He's functioning as if he's on the team of Absalom, but really he's functioning for David.

So he's now going to have this really tricky assignment. You've got to give advice that sounds good enough that he follows it and thinks you're loyal to him, but in fact, it's going to burn him and it's going to help me. Would you go do that job? And the dude says, Yes.

Right? What do you think the narrator wants us to take from what's his name? Hushai? From Hushai's willingness to take on this ridiculously dangerous and incredibly difficult role? What's the takeaway from that? That he is loyal to David, yes. But there's something even at a higher level than that.

David is going to put his hope in the Lord, and I think it gives us some hope that the Lord is with David, that things are beginning to fall his way. This is difficult. And he has reason to be like, well, it was nice while it lasted. In fact, he's already begun—did you notice? I skipped over this—he's begun to call, he changed Absalom's name. Where was it? Did you hear what he said about Absalom? He calls him King Absalom.

Go back and stay with King Absalom. — 2 Samuel 15:19

Holy cow, right? There's a sense in which David is giving up. But as he begins to resume his place, there's some hope that maybe it's not over. Maybe there's going to be a chance that the Lord is with him. Things are falling into place. Zadok is doing what he wants him to do, Ittai is doing what he wants him to do, Hushai is willing to take on this terrible and difficult role. And so maybe. Maybe just maybe.

How far is the Mount of Olives from Jerusalem? It really is super close. It's less than a mile. So knowing that David is less than a mile from the city, and he tells him to go back into the city. Look at the timing of this. This is kind of understated. But verse 37, it says:

So David's friend Hushai arrived at Jerusalem as Absalom was entering the city. — 2 Samuel 15:37

There are ships passing in the night. They are just crisscrossing. David is maybe a half a mile from the city as Absalom comes in and takes his throne, which is to say David barely escapes. And that might remind you of all the times that David barely escaped. How many times was he just around the mountain and things worked out? He's just right here, and then Saul gets a phone call, and it just keeps playing out.

And so as this chapter comes to a close, we're like, Well, King Absalom is in place, and David blew it. We're just starting to think, Well, maybe, just maybe, we're going to get out of this one somehow. And there's hope as we head to chapter 16.

Read chapter 16. We'll talk about it next week.